NEMA: 400,000 Internally Displaced Persons in North-east

 The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday said about 400,000 persons had been internally displaced in the troubled North-eastern region of the country from January 2014 till date. The information officer of the North-east zonal office of the agency, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from January to July 31 in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States before the explosion of recent attacks in Gwoza and Doron-Baga stood at 360,462. Ibrahim said Borno State alone had 183,031 IDPs, with Adamawa and Yobe States recording 147,198 and 30,233 respectively from January till the end of last month. The spokesman, who revealed that this had overdrawn the agency which had to be prepared at all time to meet the humanitarian crisis in the region, said: Because of the magnitude of cases in the areas affected by the insurgency and the numbers of IDPs, NEMA has trained volunteers and Emergency Management Vanguard, who work with the Red Cross to set up camps and register internally displaced persons. He revealed that those recently displaced as a result of the capture of Gwoza by the insurgents are now camped in Madagali in Adamawa State and Uba in Borno State, with others fleeing to neighbouring Cameroon, adding that those displaced by last Sunday’s boko haram attack on Doron-Baga are accommodated at Central Primary School, Baga.

Thisday Newspaper